This is a zine dedicated to death/thrash, technical and traditional death metal for more info contact hatredmeanswar@yahoo.com looking for new authors do to lack of time to cover everything email me at the email listed above if you want to do reviews and interviews for the blog.

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?

Well actually it happened a lot though a few things actually did not work out as planned. Since we've finished our recordings we signed a contract with Final Gate Records and worked on the artwork and layout and so on. We released on 1st of December and experienced a broad positive feedback so far!Already in Autumn we departed from our drummer, which made it impossible for us to perform live so far and in addition we moved to a new rehearsal room in December. Right this week we've returned to our new room with a new drummer to get back on stage in March.

2.Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

The recruiting of a second guitarist might be the biggest innovation which makes the album more complex, diverse and vivid compared to our past stuff. I think the album in general is a classic Death Metal album. We started using an HM2 for our guitars which gives this album a Swedish touch though we never intended to play a simple homage to Entombed or Dismember. The whole composition is rather simple but energetic which makes it raw and plausible. Of course you can hear the different influences of the composers contributing the album.

3.Your lyrics cover a lot of war themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topic?

I study history and simply have a certain fascination for war anyhow. In my opinion war is the most fitting topic for the music we play as I am a big fan of music and content going together creating a specific mood. War has always fascinated and disgusted people, it was cursed and glorified ever since. Wars shaped countries and societies maybe like nothing else did.

4.Between 2010 and 2015 there was no new material being released, can you tell us a little bit more about what was going on during this time frame?

Haha you are right and after all I am very happy about this. Our first demo from 2010 was crap and I am quiet happy that it was never really published. 2010 we were all really young and inexperienced so we simply needed this time to develop. In addition we were kicked out of a few rehearsal rooms and three of use moved to Bielefeld which prolonged this process. After all it was necessary I think and I am not really angry about it...sometimes it takes time to do a thing well.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Scalpture'?

It is simply a mix between the words Scalp and Sculpture. Call it a pun as you like. There is no deeper meaning behind this just that it sounds quiet powerful and mean in my ears.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

We hit the stage first in 2014 if I remember it right and had quiet a few very cool gigs. There is non in particular right now coming to my mind. You are invited to come to one of our future shows and give your impression about our performance. For my part I try to get as angry as possible to give an authentic impression for our kind of music.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?

A tour is not planned. We just practiced a few time with our new drummer and now try to play as much gigs as we can get hold of for 2017.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal?

The feedback was consistently positive especially from the Death Metal maniacs worldwide. Of course most of the feedback comes from Germany but we've got one of our best reviews from Austria, were played on online radio shows in England and France, got a lot of new fans from Spain and South America and received orders from many European countries and the US. A point that was criticized in several reviews is that we are lacking self-reliance compared to Bolt Thrower or Dismember for instance. I can follow this to some extend but especially with the named bands I can live with that.

9.Are any of the band members also involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?

Our both guitarists are. Tobias is playing in a just-for-fun-and-drinking Hard Rock band, while Felix plays bass for Wifebeater (a great band from Bielefeld for all fans of GG-Allin or Motörhead).

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

That's a difficult one. I think it depends on a couple of factors. I hope that Panzerdoktrin goes as viral as possible and we'll play live as much as possible. In the near future we'll focus on improving on our live performance. In the medium-term we will start working on our second Album for which a rough concept does already exist.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

I think it's obvious what our roots and influences are. Often we were compared to Dismember, Hail of Bullets, Bolt Thrower or Asphyx for example.These are all bands influencing us. Besides those legends, of course plenty of other (underground)bands had a massive influence on our music. Not just Death Metal Bands but also some Crust, Hardcore, Grind, or Black Metal Bands did. Personally I listened to a lot of stoner and doom recently and the last three albums I bought were Krypts – Remnants of Chaos, Mantar – Ode to the Flame and John Garcia – The Coyote who Spoke in Tongues.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

Well everyone has a few. Anselm likes hunting and fishing, Felix likes jerking off frequently, Tobias has a family and I'm into football! We also like drinking...just not with Felix.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

“I like dogs better than men and cats better than dogs an myself best of all, drunk in my underwear looking out the window.” C. Bukowski

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Sunless are a band from Minnesota that plats a very progressive, technical and avant garde form of death metal and this is a review of their self released 2017 album "Urraca" which will be released in February.

A very dark yet heavy musical sound starts off the album along with all of the instruments sounding very powerful and after a few seconds the riffs get more progressive and technical while the vocals are mostly death metal growls along with a few screams and blast beats a re also used when the music speeds up.

A great amount of melody can be heard in the guitar riffing which also mixes in a great amount of avant garde structures and the solos and leads also stick to a more progressive or technical style and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and there is also a brief use of experimental sounds and the last track is very long and epic in length.

Sunless plays a style of death metal that is very dark, heavy, progressive, technical and avant garde sounding, the production sounds very professional for being a self released recording, while the lyrics cover dark and philosophical themes.

In my opinion Sunless are a very great sounding progressive, technical and avant garde death metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this recording. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Wishes Fallen On Deafened Ears" "Born Of Clay" "The Ancient Ones" and "Disintegration Of Man". 8 out of 10.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Bear Mace are a band from Chicago, Illinois that plays a very old school form of death metal and this is a review of their self released 2017 album "Butchering The Colossus" which will be released in March.

A very dark yet heavy sound starts off the album along with guitar leads being added into the recording and the music is very heavily rooted in the mid 80's to early 90's and when the music speeds up a decent amount of blast beats can be heard while the vocals are mostly death metal growls and melodies can also be heard at times.

Throughout the recording you can hear a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and the songs also sound sound they could of easily been recorded and released more than 25 years ago and the solos and leads also bring back some of the early Tampa Bay style and all of the musical instruments have a very powerful sound to them and as the album progresses high pitched screams are added onto the recording and all of the songs stick to a very heavy musical style.

Bear Mace plays a style of death metal that goes back to the 89-92 era of the genre, the production sounds very old school yet professional at the same time while the lyrics cover war, death and bears themes.

In my opinion Bear Mace are a very great sounding old school death metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Cyclone Of Shrapnel" "Leave Nothing Here Alive" and "Anguirus the Destroyer". 8 out of 10.

Mutilator are a band from Brazil that plays a mixture of death and thrash metal and this is a review of their 1987 album "Immortal Force" which was re-issued in 2017 by in Greyhaze Records.

Distorted amp sounds start off the album before going into more of a heavier direction and the guitar leads bring in an early death metal style while the riffing is done in more of a thrash style and when the music speeds up a great amount of blast beats can be heard and the vocals also use more of a death/thrash approach.

A decent amount of melody can be heard in the guitar riffing and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and the music goes for more of a style of early death metal when it was still mostly thrash rooted while also having a touch of first wave black metal on the bonus tracks and the album also remains very heavy from beginning to ending of the recording.

Mutilator played a musical style that was considered death metal for its time while still being very heavily rooted in thrash and where also a lot lesser known than a country of other bands from their home country while still influencing t he Brazilian scene, t he production sounds very raw while the lyrics cover violence, hate and dark spirituality themes.

In my opinion Mutilator where a very great sounding mixture of death and thrash metal and if you are a fan of those musical genres, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Memorial Stone Without A Name" "War Dogs" "Immortal Force" and "Evil Conspiracy'. 8 out of 10.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

We're a fairly newer band. Only formed back in 2013 in Detroit. Driven by our love for heavy, thrash and death metal. At first it was just a meeting of friends that were all into the same things but once we started getting serious about it, things took off very quickly for us. To summarize, we're heavy groove laden death and thrash metal. That's what we're about.

2.You have an album coming out in February, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

People that have seen us play live and have heard our music have said it best: we're "heavy as fuck!"

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

A lot of our topics focus on darker subject matter. Like the slavery of extreme drug abuse. Or how shitty some humans can be towards each other. Or how some people fall into cults or extremism because they believe whatever they are told.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Hate Unbound'?

That's a great question. Early on we were at a point where we wanted to start gigging so we needed a name. A point that all bands come to. But we were struggling to find an interesting name that wasn't already in use by any band. Because of the internet, any band can be "global" so it can be difficult to come up with something unique. We'd typically just throw names back and forth that we thought were interesting. The names would evolve many times during one discussion as people added to those ideas. Someone threw out "Hate Unbound" and a light went off. That is unique. And it reflects our contempt for shitty people, heroin dealers, etc.. A quick web search to make sure it wasn't in use and just like that: We became Hate Unbound.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Best shows? One would have been Full Terror Assault Open Air Festival II in 2016. This is an awesome 3 day event with so much metal, it's like we died and went to heaven. There were 50 bands. Origin, Belphegor, Dying Fetus, Product of Hate, Sacred Reich and so many more. I can't say enough for the great bands and the vibe the entire 3 days. Just amazing. I recommend that everyone hits this festival in their future. Another would have been New Jersey Metal Fest 2 also in 2016. DJ Jerry Declet from the Metallicave on Nuclear Rock Radio puts on an amazing annual metal fest. This guy does more for the east coast metal scene than most bands ever do. He is a champion of underground metal bands and we have nothing but love for the man and his efforts.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the album is released?

We already have a tour planned for April but are waiting on a couple confirmations before we can announce with whom and the venues, etc. We plan on 2 more runs this year to different parts of the North America as well.

7.The album is coming out on 'Inverse Records', are you happy with the support that they have given you so far?

Absolutely. They have been amazing to work with. It has been a great relationship so far. They are good people.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death, thrash and groove metal?

We're just now starting to see the reviews of our album for those that got a preview... and they are all great. We're ecstatic about the responses so far and hope people continue to enjoy our music.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

We'll always be heavy. But I see us growing as a whole unit and become better at what Hate Unbound already does. We'll always be metal so that part will never change.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Some notable major influences are titans such as Death, Slayer and Testament. And other bands such as Gojira, Lamb of God, Nevermore and so on. We don't intentionally try to sound like anyone but you have to let your influences bleed through your own art. It would be a dishonor to those mighty bands to deny their influence. And we are thankful for all of them and so many more.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Daryl: loves going to concerts, playing ice hockey and riding motorcyclesArt: is a big horror movie buffFoot: is a devoted family man and enjoys going to see bands play liveWill: is a cigar aficionado, likes keeping up on technology and digs cars!Sean: no comment. haha

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

We wanted to thank you, for taking the time to interact with us. We truly appreciate it. And we want everyone to know that we would be honored to have folks check out our music. The metal head family is an awesome group of folks and we're excited to share our music with our family. Keep your horns up, your heads banging and stay metal !

Sunday, January 22, 2017

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?At this moment the band managed to complete its lineup with the joining of two new guitar players. Now we are five members: Pedro (voice); Diogo (lead guitar); Daniel (rhythm guitar); Koja (bass) and Beto (drums). Although all the elements belong to other bands and projects, Festering are active and available for concerts. Furthermore we are working on new material for a future new album, we already have ten music’s in recording process. We hope to finish this work during 2017.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings?Festering introduces itself as an Old School Death Metal band like Entombed, Dismember, Death, Obituary, Bolt Thrower, with big influences of Grind/Gore, bands like Napalm Death or Carcass.

3.The band was broken up for a long time, what was the cause of the split?In reality the band never ended. Festering was a project of my own and some friends. In early 90´s we were young, had some free time and a lot of willingness to play. When we liked some kind of sound that wasn’t inside our bands we created a project. With Festering it was like that, we did some Death/Grind/Gore music genre. In 2011, when I and Pedro decided to relive an old idea of creating a project within this genre, at the time of choosing a name we thought that it would be logical to pick one of the old ones that stayed in the drawer and revive it. And so it was, we chose some music, riffs and old lyrics and wrote some new material. And Festering reborn from the ashes. 4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Festering'?Festering means something that is rotten, in decay. The concept and the idea behind the name Festering is of digging up the old Death Metal, the surrealism, the satire, and the dark humor linked to gore and the old horror movies from the 80’s/90’s decades, living dead, demonic prophecies… the black and white environment. The dirty, heavy, fast, extreme sonority. The morbidity and the obscurity of the human mind.

5.I have read that the band has yet to do a live show, is this going t to change in the future?No. With the arrival of new musicians the band has initiated it´s activity in terms of live performance. Despite the elements that make up the band aren´t exclusively with Festering the band is active regarding live shows.

6.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal?Surprisingly, the reactions have been very positive from all around the world. Wherever our music as arrived, we got positive feedback, some reviews were very good, excellent. I really wasn´t expecting such a positive reaction, because we took a kind of death metal which wasn´t original and that was a fact assumed by the project mentors. We never had pretensions to something original or too complex. We chose a direct, heavy and fast sound, without bullshit or great technical skills. Initially it was supposed to be a studio project, something we did just for fun and pleasure of playing old Death/Grind. But since the reviews were so good we thought that we should give another life and attention to Festering. Now we shall see where it will lead us.

7.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that the band members are a part of?The band members are involved in other projects and bands among the most diverse sonorities: Crust, Black Metal, Melodic Death, Brutal e Technical Death, Grind, Doom, etc. Bands like: Analepsy, Trepid Elucidation, Verme, Tod Hubtet Ubel, Martelo Negro, Filii Nigrantium Infernalium, Extreme Unction, Necro Terror… Some of them really active and with high projection.

8.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?In musical terms, we will be sticking to this. The new songs are within the previous album. Maybe we can consider them faster and the Gore/Grind or the groove influence is more present, but I think that it will stick to what we initially had in mind. As for a distant future… we don´t have any plans, but with the arrival of the new guitar players something could change or evolve. But we don´t have great expectations or make any prophecies. As long as we like and keep having fun Festering will go on.

9.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?Personally, the latest releases from Carcass, Entrails, Asphyx, Bloodbath, Daemonical… have inspired me and helped keep the moral in order to continue writing new stuff for Festering.Lately, apart from some classics and a few recent bands I haven´t heard a lot of Death Metal. I am listening to something more melodic, Amorphis, Kamelot, Power and Heavy Metal, Doom…As long as it´s Metal I listen to a bit of everything and even somethings outside it. But to play and write songs it´s within Death/Grind/Doom that I feel more comfortable.

10.What are some of your non musical interests?Besides music and family duties as a father and devoted husband… lol… I have a hobby that steals some time from me, I am a Futsal Coach and during the week I train at night time. It´s a passion that I have for that sport modality, it has been so since about 17/18 years. I also like football (seeing and playing) and basket. I like to cook, I´m passionate for movies and TV series (science fiction, horror, suspense, mystery, fantastic, comedy), I appreciate cartoons and animation movies. Sadly the day only has 24 hours and some of them are reserved for sleeping… lol…

11.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts? First of all I would like to thank the support for the promotion of our work and the availability/opportunity of giving us room in your publication. Little bands needs people like you who support the Underground and the Death Metal. To the readers, I hope you feel tempted to look for the band, to listen, like and enjoy. I hope you help us spread our sound and try to know a little bit more of what we do in Portugal, where good bands exist within most diverse genres. Never stop supporting Death Metal underground, extreme music and bands like ours who play for pleasure without aspirations to fame or money.

Friday, January 20, 2017

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

Birkir: We just finished wrapping up recording our first LP which is now being mixed and mastered and will hopefully be ready soon.Now we're just getting ready for a couple of gigs here in Iceland and after those we're going on a little tour in central europe.

Jónas: We just finished recording our LP and are currently waiting for it to be mixed and mastered. Afterwards we will go on a 10 days tour.

Tony: We just finished recording our first LP and then we have a couple of gigs in Iceland before heading to Poland, Slovakia and Czech Republic in May/June.

Viktor: Well for one we have just wrapped up our recording sessions for our first LP which will be released soon.

2.So far you have released 2 ep's, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on both of the recordings and also how do they differ from each other?

Birkir: The first EP was a bit more focused on longer, more riff-packed songs, a bit heavier and darker atmosphere while our second EP, and our upcoming LP has shorter, faster songs and a bit more melodic, kinda similar to Dismember.

Jónas: Given that our last EP consists of songs that will be on the LP, I can't say that lots have changed since.The sounds and structure has changed a lot, though, since our first EP. The songs are shorter and more aggressive and follow a relatively simpler structure.

Tony: We have always tried to have the same sound but in the writing sense, this new material is way different from our first EP which consisted with needless, long riffs. This one is more in your face kinda writing if you ask me.

Viktor: For starters, our latest EP is a lot more aggressive and angry in our opinion.Our first EP consisted of more riffs which resulted in longer songs but our second EP is more of a celebration of the old school swedish death metal, simple, fast and straight to the point.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

Birkir: Viktor field of expertise

Tony: Our songs are mostly about anti-religious, violence and social matter. Very often I come up with a title for a song I like and Viktor writes lyrics around that. And sometimes Viktor just makes things up in a jiffy :P

Viktor: Obviously that depends on what song you're listening to, we have various subjects for all our songs ranging from anti-religious themes to simple gore and violence.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Narthraal'?

Viktor: Originally we had this idea of creating an entire fantasy world inspired by biblical hell, this world was called Narthraal in its native demonic tongue.Later we abandoned that idea but decided to keep the name because its catchy and there's no other band with that name.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Birkir: Eistnaflug 2016 and the Reykjavík Deathfest warm-up show that we did at bar 11 with Grave Superior and Nexion. I would say that we try to be powerful on stage, we want the audience to enjoy the show as well as they can.

Jónas: Since I'm a drummer I don't really do much on stage except move my hands. Some of our best shows involves last year's Eistnaflug and one concert supporting The Reykjavík Deathfestival

Tony: Eistnaflug for sure! And I think we have a nice stage performance, at least that's what we have been told.

Viktor: I think we call all agree that our greatest live experiences were at last years Eistnaflug and a Reykjavik Deathfest warm-up gig,I'd have to say that when it comes to stage performance we're quite lively, after all there's not much sense in seeing a band just standing there and playing an instrument is there?

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Birkir: Ah yes, we're playing another Deathfest warm-up show in march, but after that we're going on a tour that includes Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic with our friends in the Icelandic band Alchemia.

Tony: And we also have that gig here in Iceland on 4th of Feb with Carnal Tomb from Germany and 2 icelandic bands that I recommend everyone checks our, they are called Grave Superior and Urðun.

7.Currently the band is signed to 'Inverse Records', are you happy with the support they have given you so far?

Birkir: Yeah, they're amazing, they've been advertising us and sending our music all over the place, they also notified us of the tour we're going on. We're really happy about what they've done for us so far.

Jónas: The support has been great, well recommended.

Tony: Thumbs up!

Viktor: We are very happy about the support we have gotten from Inverse Records, they have been promoting our EP very well and we are very excited for whenthey start promoting our LP

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal?

Birkir: We've gotten a lot of positive feedback,and some not as positive, but we welcome all opinions about our music, and as long as it reaches out to people, then we're happy.

Jónas: The fans seems to enjoy it. Ironically the people who've been most critical of us has been friends from the local metal scene.

Tony: unfortunately people in Iceland are not getting the Boss HM-2 sound but abroad, we seem to be getting quite a nice review.

Viktor: So far we have been getting a lot of positive feedback, of course there's no such thing as a band that everybody loves but we're positive that we are doing something good.

9.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

Birkir: Our full-length will be out in the coming months, we can't really spill the beans on when exactly it will be ready but it will be soon. I think we'll just go with the flow music-wise we mainly just do what we want with our music.

Jónas: The future? I have no idea, but I doubt you can convince the whole band to make many changes.

Tony: Into musicals!

Viktor: Our first full length will be released soon, we can't say when exactly but our fans can expect it to be released within a few months.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Birkir: We can all agree that our influences these days are Dismember, Entombed, Bloodbath and more.I listen to a wide variety of music, mainly metal these days though, but recently i've been listening to a lot of Sulphur Aeon, Dissection, Bloodbath, Alcest and Insomnium.

Jónas: Old school Swedish Death Metal, particularly Bloodbath, Entombed and Dismember.Bands that I've listened to lately are f.x. Batushka, Slomatics, Nile, Sleep and, of course, Bloodbath.

Tony: Dismember and Entombed for sure but also of course Bloodbath!

Bands that I listen to these days is of course Dismember and Entombed but also Lik, Bombs of Hades, Age of Woe, Mustan Kuun Lapset, Moonsorrow, Testament, Naglfar, Sons of Crom and Elderwind to name a few.

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Gorephilia are a band from Finland that has been featured before in this zine and plays an old school form of death metal and this is a review of their 2017 album "Severed Monolith" which will be released in March by Dark Descent Records.

A very distorted sound starts off the album before going into a heavier direction along with a great amount of morbid sounding melodies while the vocals are mostly death metal growls and when the music speeds up a great amount of blast beats can be heard and the music is heavily rooted in the early 90's.

When guitar solos and leads are utilized they are done in a very dark and melodic style and you can also hear all of the musical instruments that are present on the recording along with the songs also bringing in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and tremolo picking can also be heard in some of the faster riffing.

High pitched screams can also be heard in certain sections of the recording and they also bring in a brief instrumental and a few tracks that are long and epic in length while a later instrumental is a sci-fi orientated synth track before returning back to a heavier direction and there is also a brief use of spoken word parts and they close the album with a classical music orientated instrumental.

Gorephilia creates another recording that remains true to the old school death metal of previous releases while also adding in new touches to their style, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover the inner conflict and self destruction of a man parting from his wills, value and life.

In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Gorphilia and if you are a fan of old school death metal, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Interplaner" Black Horns" and "Crushed Under the Weight Of God". 8 out of 10.

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

The band was formed by Anthony Biello (ex-Severed Remains - Drums) and myself. Anthony had been itching to play again and really wanted to do something raw, uncompromising, and visceral. After a number of phone calls, texts, and online messages, I finally gave in and started writing some material. Joe (ex-Severed Remains - Vocals) was the next member added and it remained just the 3 of us until all the music was essentially written, although we always knew we were going to ask Michael Wilson (Abigail Williams, Aborted) to join. We knew what we wanted to hear guitar lead-wise and knew, absolutely, that he was the man for the job. We reached out to Caleb Bingham (Athanasia), who’s become a good friend of mine, also a Ohio native, currently living in Los Angeles, to mix the 2 song demo. Caleb ended up loving the material so much, we asked if he’d like to join in on second guitar, and the rest is history.

2.Recently you have released a demo, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording? Filthy, putrid, uncompromising Death Metal.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

Lyrically and conceptually Grave Plague is inspired by 60s and 70s Occult horror from the likes of Hammer and Mario Bava, 70s and 80s zombie / slasher / exploitation, etc. Halls...and Arise specifically were inspired by Fulci's City of the Living Dead and Umberto Lenzi's Nightmare City respectively.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Grave Plague'?

We wanted something catchy and memorable, but obviously something that represented the music within. We named the band GRAVE PLAGUE after the Great Plague of 1665 which saw hundreds of thousands of bodies in the streets and piled into mass graves. Not only did people of this time have an epidemic to deal with, but people were dying off so quickly and in so many numbers that there was no where to put the corpses. We aren’t breaking any new ground or paving the way for any new movement, we are just writing Death Metal we want to hear, so even though the name is a little kitschy and cliché, it fits us just fine.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

No shows to date, we’re all old now with full time jobs and kids, the whole nine yards. To be honest, this is passion project for all of us. We are so focused on the music, finishing the album so we can have something out by the end of 2017, we haven’t all sat down to figure out the rest yet. Time will tell.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

I would love to get on some festival dates, but that also remains to be seen.

7.Can you tell us a little bit more about 'Caco-Daemon Records'?

Caco-Daemon Records is a new label specializing in limited cassette runs of the gnarliest old school death metal out there. The owner, Andreas, based out of Germany, reached out to us and I’m glad he did! We couldn’t be happier with the result and more importantly, he is a good dude trying to do something a little more unique and boutique these days. He’s a collector’s collector if that makes sense. Dude gets it, and we are proud to be on the short list of releases he’s chosen to undertake thus far. The Cassette demo was released Friday Jan 13th and I believe he’s already sold out 5 days later.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal?

We have been quite stunned actually! We have gotten such an amazing response from friends, members of the “Metal Elite” who have been doing this for decades, journalists, and fans all over the world! We are even more motivated to get the full length completed and put out due to the response. Give Praise Records and my label, Redefining Darkness Records, are collaborating on a 7” Vinyl version of the EP, due in March, and I’m shocked by the number of preorders in the first 5 days alone. A big thank you to everyone who has been digging our music and for all the shares and general support - we have much more to show you!

9.Are any of the band members currently involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?

This is Anthony’s only band currently. Caleb is in an amazing band called ATHANASIA - def have to check them out! Michael is typically in high demand when it comes to guitar leads, but other than this band, he is just focusing on his own music right now - we collaborate on a lot of other projects as well - stay tuned..

I always have a million things going - I have a grind band with Joe and Zach Gibson (Black Dahlia Murder, Phobia) called TO DUST (US) that just put out a split 12” with Dirk Verbeuren’s (Soilwork, Aborted, Megadeth) BENT SEA on Give Praise last year. VINTAGE WARLORDS, a death/doom project whose debut release came out on Redefining Darkness Records in 2015. Humanity is Cancer which is a super brutal death metal band with some friends that will hopefully see the light of day soon, not to mention a few more exciting things I’m not yet ready to disclose.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

You won’t hear much variation from us. We didn’t do this to get signed, we didn’t do this to play shows, we did this to write the sickest shit we could, the way we believe death metal should be played. We did this for us first. Everything else is secondary.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

The bands that influenced what we do are too many to name, but hands down AUTOPSY is the main culprit. Death Metal has never been done better. A few others would be Death, Deceased, Immolation, Incantation, Dismember, Entombed, and Obituary.

Wow, man….I listen to so much shit it’s ridiculous. While I do find myself still listening to a lot of heavy shit, it’s mostly the shit I grew up with. Otherwise I’m all across the board from Post Punk, Old Punk and Hardcore, 90’s Hip Hop, Motown, Soul, Jazz, to strange avant garde shit - pretty much anything I think is worth listening to.

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Southern California's Xibalba have returned with a new recording t hat continues the death metal and thrash influenced form of hardcore from their previous recordings and this is a review of their 2017 ep "Diabolo, Con Amor...Adios" which will be released in February by Close Casket Activities.

A very dark, heavy and melodic sound starts off the ep and after awhile death metal elements and hardcore style growling are added onto the recording and you can also hear a great amount of 90's influences in the bands musical style while also being very modern at the same time and all of the musical instruments sound very powerful.

When the music speeds up a great amount of blast beats can be heard and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts along with a decent amount of thrash elements and the songs never use any guitar solos and leads while the ep remains heay from beginning to ending of the recording.

Xibalba creates another recording that remains true to the hardcore, thrash, and death metal mixture of previous releases, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover dark and occult themes.

In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Xibalba and if you are a fan of this band, you should enjoy this ep. RECOMMENDED TRACK "Diablo". 8 out of 10.

I Am are a band from Texas that plays a death metal influenced form of hardcore and this is a review of their self released 2017 album "Life Through Torment" which will be released in February.

Nature sounds start off the album before going into a heavier direction along with a mixture of growling and hardcore style vocals and you can also hear all of the musical instruments that are present on the recording and the music also brings in elements of modern metalcore and melodic guitar leads and solos.

When the music speeds up a great amount of blast beats can be heard and high pitched screams are also utilized at times and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and some of the riffing also brings in a decent amount of melody and there is also a brief use of spoken word parts on some of the tracks and a couple of the songs also introduces clean playing onto the recording.

I Am plays a musical style that is mostly rooted in hardcore while also mixing in the heaviness of death metal to create a sound of their own, the production sounds very professional for being a self released recording while the lyrics cover dark themes.

In my opinion I Am are a very great sounding death metal influenced hardcore band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Life Through Torment" "C.O.S.L" "Mortality Hangs" and "Forgive Me". 8 out of 10.

Monday, January 16, 2017

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

We are Corps-sans-Organes, a Death Metal band from Colombia. Jeisson G. Ospina on guitar and vocals; Camilo Castañeda on bass guitar; Nelson Socha on drums.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings?

As pure Death metal, only faster.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

On the first record, Deleuze Edition (Hateworks, 2016), we worked around the ideas of french philosopher Gilles Deleuze and phychoanalyst Félix Guattari, specially those regarding the Body without Organs, invented by Spinoza.

4.I know that the bands name means 'Body Without Organs' in French, how does this name fit in with the musical style that you play?

Besides the strong influence in our music by french bands like Trepalium and Gojira, french philosophy is also a strong interest for us, being Deleuze at the center of everything. He offers a new reading of Spinoza's theory and the concept of 'potency', how it should be performed by every single human being in order to scape from capitalism, in order to live free.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

After releasing the record we went on a tour around Colombia for a couple of weeks. Although we played on several shows for free, only few people showed up. We sold no merchandising at all. But people liked the band, and that was the whole idea.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Nowadays, we've been working on new music. We have the intention of releasing a new short-length album in Spanish.

7.The album was released on 'Hateworks', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Hateworks is one of the best labels in Colombia. We are proud to work with them. The will continue supporting us for at least one more album.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of technical death metal?

It's been great so far. There is a fun fact though: We've received support from many countries except from our own. No reviews at all.

9.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?

Our new drummer, Nelson, works in a great band called Hedor. The rest of us is consecrated to the band.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

We'll try to play a little faster and we'd love to play abroad. We'll see if that's possible.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

There are many bands. All the way from Death to Deadborn.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

Literature and cinema, mostly.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Antizen are a solo project from the Czech Republic that plays a mixture of death and groove metal and this is a review of his self released 2016 ep "The Consumer".

A very heavy guitar sound starts off the ep and a few seconds later death metal growls are added onto the recording and the riffs also bring in a decent amount of melody and groove and some of the riffing also adds in a touch of thrash and the music also brings in a lot of 90's death and groove metal influences.

All of the musical instruments on the recording have a very powerful sound to them and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and when guitar leads are utilized they are done in a very melodic fashion and the one of the tracks also adds in a brief use of clean guitars before returning back to a heavier direction.

Antizen plays a musical style that takes death and groove metal and mixes them together to create a sound of his own, the production sounds very powerful for being a self released recording while the lyrics cover dark themes.

In my opinion Antizen are a very great sounding mixture of death and groove metal and if you are a fan of those musical genres, you should check out this solo project. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Psychotic Overdrive" and "Night Walk". 8 out of 10.

Hate Unbound are a band from Detroit, Michigan that plays a mixture of death, groove and thrash metal and this is a review of their 2017 album "Plague" which will be released in February by Inverse Records.

A very heavy guitar sound starts off the album before going into a very fast thrash metal direction that also uses blast beats and the vocals also bring in a mixture of death metal growls and high pitched groove metal screams and when guitar solos and leads are utilized they bring in even more of an extreme metal style.

A decent amount of melody can be heard in the guitar riffing and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and all of the musical instruments have a very powerful sound to them and a later track brings in a brief use of clean guitars before returning back to a heavier direction.

Hate Unbound plays a musical style that takes death, thrash and groove metal and mixes them together to create a sound of their own, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover dark and violent themes.

In my opinion Hate Unbound are a very great sounding mixture of death, groove, and thrash metal and if you are a fan of those musical genres, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Baptized In Lies" "Burn Your Idols" "I, Martyr" and "The Fallen". 8 out of 10.

Skeletal are a band from Finland that plays a mixture of death and thrash metal and this is a review of their 2017 album "Dreadful Life" which will be released in February by Inverse Records.

A very fast and aggressive old school death metal sound starts off the album along with a great amount of blast beats and morbid sounding melodies while also adding in growling vocals a few seconds later and the music is very heavily rooted in the mid 80's and the solos and leads bring in even more of an old style.

A great amount of thrash influences can be heard in the bands musical style and screams are also used at times and all of the musical instruments have a very powerful sound to them and all of the tracks sound like they could of easily been recorded and released almost 3o years ago and they also bring in a brief instrumental that h as the atmosphere of a classic horror movie before making a return back to a heavier musical direction and one track also adds in a brief use of synths and there is also a brief use of clean guitars for a few seconds and the last song is very long and epic in length.

Skeletal plays a style of death metal that is mostly rooted in the mid 80's era of the genre while also mixing in touches of thrash, the production sounds very old school while the lyrics cover death themes.

In my opinion Skeletal are a very great sounding old school mixture of death and thrash metal and if you are a fan of those musical genres, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Sewers Of This World" "Downward Spiral" and "Return To The Grave". 8 out of 10.

In Death... are a band from Australia that plays a technical mixture of death and thrash metal and this is a review of their self released 2016 album "The Devil Speaks".

A very distorted guitar sound starts off the album before going into a heavier yet technical musical direction and all of the musical instruments have a very powerful sound to them and after awhile death metal growls and high pitched screams are added onto the recording while t he vocals also mix in an aggressive thrash approach at times.

When the music speeds up a great amount of blast beats can be heard and when guitar solos and leads are utilized they bring in even more of a technical style and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and spoken word parts can also be heard briefly and some of the riffs also bring in a small amount of melody while also mixing in elements of groove, djent and prog at times and the album also remains heavy from beginning to ending of the recording.

In Death... plays a musical style that takes a technical and progressive form of death metal and mixes it in with a modern thrash style to create a sound of their own, the production sounds very professional for being a self released recording while the lyrics cover dark, hateful and violent themes.

In my opinion In Death... are a very great sounding technical mixture of death and thrash metal and if you are a fan of those musical genres, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "The Pitfalls Of Immortality" "Godzilla" and "The Devil Speaks". 8 out of 10.

Sinatras are a band from Italy that has been featured before in this zine and plays a mixture of death'n'roll and thrash metal and this is a review of their 2017 album 'Drowned" which was released by logic(il)logic Records.

Clean yet distorted playing along with classical guitars start off the album as well as some melodic vocals which also leads up to a heavier musical direction which is also very heavily influenced by thrash metal with some touches of modern rock and when the music speeds up a decent amount of blast beats can be heard.

All of the musical instruments on the recording have a very powerful sound to them and when guitar solos and leads are utilized they are done in a very melodic fashion and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and they also add in a brief use of funk music samples and crowd noises and some tracks add in a small amount of spoken word parts while a later song adds in acoustic guitars and stringed instruments and there is only a few seconds of death metal growls.

On this recording Sinatras move way from the death'n'roll style of their previous release and create an album that is more of a mixture of melodic thrash and mainstream rock, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover real life themes.

In my opinion this is a decent sounding recording from Sinatras and while some death metal fans of their earlier material might not like the new style, I can see them winning fans of melodic thrash and mainstream rock. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Behind The Fire" "Burning Down" "Pull The Tail" and "Eat The Gun". 7 out of 10.

Warlord U.K are a band from the United Kingdom that plays a mixture of death and thrash metal and this is a review of their 1996 album "Maximum Carnage" which was re-issue in 2016 by Transcending Obscurity Records.

Dark sound effects start off the album before going into more of a heavier and melodic musical direction and you can also hear all of the musical instruments that are present on the recording and after awhile death metal growls are added onto the recording and when the music speeds up a great amount of blast beats can be heard.

A great amount of thrash influences can be heard quite a bit throughout the recording and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and screams can also be heard at times and when guitar solos and leads are utilized they are done in a very melodic fashion and there is also a brief use of spoken word parts while a later track adds in a small amount of classical guitars and they close the album with 2 live bonus tracks.

Warlord U.K played a style of death metal on this recording that was done in the British style but also standing out a bit more with the thrash influence, the production sounds very professional for the era it was released while the lyrics cover violent and political themes.

In my opinion Warlord U.K are a very great sounding mixture of death and thrash metal and if you are a fan of those musical genres, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Maximum Carnage" "Alien Dictator" and "Race War". 8 out of 10.

Friday, January 13, 2017

The Ritual Aura are a band from Australia that plays a very technical and progressive form of death metal and this is a review of their 2016 album "Taether" which was released by Lacerated Enemy Records.

Atmospheric sounding synths start off the album along with some guitar leads being added onto the recording a few seconds later which also leads to a heavier direction and when the music speeds up a great amount of blast beats can be heard and the vocals also bring in a mixture of high pitched screams and death metal growls.

A great amount of technical elements can be heard quite a bit throughout the recording and they also mix in synths in with the heavier sections of the songs at times and there is also a brief use of clean singing vocals and the riffs and leads also add in a decent amount of progressive touches and some of the tracks are very long and epic in length.

Acoustic guitars are added onto the recording briefly and some of the tracks also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and there is also a brief use of spoken word parts as the album progresses and there are also a couple of brief instrumentals along with some elements of Japanese folk music.

The Ritual Aura plays a style of death metal that is very progressive and technical while also adding in influences from non metal genres to create something very original, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover the folklore, mythology and horror of ancient Japan.

In my opinion The Ritual Aura are a very great original sounding progressive and technical death metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this recording. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Ghostgate" "I Am No Longer I?" "In Our Hearts" and "Farewell To Being". 8 out of 10.

Netherlands's Sinister have returned with a new recording which remains true to a pure form of death metal and this is a review of their 2017 album "Syncretism" which will be released in February by Massacre Records.

Epic sounding synths start off the album and they add in a touch of classical before going into a heavier musical direction that is mostly rooted in the mid 80's and early 90's as well as introducing death metal growls onto the recording and they also bring in a modern touch to an old school genre.

High pitched screams can also be heard at times and the faster sections of the songs also bring in a great amount of brutal blast beats and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and you can also hear all of the musical instruments that are present on the recording and acoustic guitars are also used briefly.

You can also hear a touch of thrash in some of the guitar riffing and when guitar solos and leads are utilized they are done in a very dark yet melodic fashion and synths are also added onto some of the other tracks and they bring in an epic atmosphere while one song also adds in a brief use of melodic chants while the main focus remains more on a heavy and old school style of death metal and one song also adds in a brief use of ritualistic spoken word parts and a couple of the tracks are long and epic in length.

Sinister creates a recording that takes their old school and brutal style of death metal and mixes in some epic sounding synths to take their style into a newer direction, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover Occultism, Darkness, Anti Christian and Violence themes.

In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Sinister and if you are a fan of this band, you should enjoy this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Convulsion Of Christ" "Syncretism" "Rite Of the Blood Eagle" and "Confession Before Slaughter". 8/5 out of 10.

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

Hi , after finishing the work on the CD-release of „Sea of Dead Consciousness“ we started to write new songs. So currently we are writing new material. This will take a while but our goal is to release a full length album in 2017 with some dark, twisted and chaotic death metal.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings?

The sound is like the whole music – challenging! It is important that music and sound link to a unit to unfold the full atmosphere. When you for example listen to Incantation´s "Onward to Golgotha" you can perfectly hear that. Everything has to fit together and so the musical and technical sound of our release is dark, brutal and chaotic. It takes the listener deep in the drowning abyss of the sea of dead consciousness and there he remains. Nobody needs a production like an steril scalpel, just for the sake of hearing every tiny sound! We would like to see the musical scene to be more courageous concerning the sound and production.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

The Band is a worship to the death in all facets. Everything ends in dust and nobody can escape. The lyrics are very important to the music, we don´t like death metal lyrics about politics and crap like that. Everybody has his opinion, but in death metal the lyrics have to be dark and negatively. For us the lyrics support the music to fall into the abyss when you hear our notes. Bringing the listener to the point where he realizes the full meaning of death to him as an individual is the goal of music and lyrics in combination.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Inexorable'?

The name goes hand in hand with our lyrics. Death stands over all and inexorable means the relentlessness of death.

5.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you planning on expanding the line up in the future or do you chose to remain a duo?

We have some plans for a new session drummer, but nothing is concrete. As a duo we had the best output and the best imagination of our sound. It‘s hard to get people who like also this type of music and can play it.

6.Your last ep is getting re-issued in 2017 by 'Godz Of War Productions', are you happy with the support that they have given you so far?

Yes, Greg is really doing a good job for us. He is a very busy man and we feel that we fit very well in the label’s general musical direction.

7.On the ep you had done some Mayhem, Immolation and Mysticum covers, what was the decision behind doing your own versions of these songs?

Logically we are fans of these bands and they influence us a lot, Mayhem = vocals, Immolation = guitars, Mysticum = madness. So the three songs are a homage to some of our musical gods. The decision why we chose these songs and not any other is easy to follow: the songs are absolutely outstanding in the bunch of the music these bands made. Not that other songs are bad or something but these songs are very special, at least to us.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal?

Very polarizing, the people love it or hate it. It’s no easy listening and that was very well reflected in the people who liked and disliked our music. You have to open yourself to our music and you have to listen carefully. When you like bands in the style of Gorguts, Immolation or Portal then Inexorable can be yours. When you are more into melodic, standard death metal Inexorable may be a hard try to you.

9.When can we expect new material and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

We hope that we can release a full length in the fall of 2017. The general style will definitely stay the same. But naturally we try to improve the music within the style it has. So the new songs will be more negativ, dissonant, confusing and of course, challenging.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Uh, too many to count. But a small choice may be Immolation, Incantation, Mayhem, King Diamond, Morbid Angel, Black Sabbath, Dodheimsgard, King Crimson and some Jazz and Blues Stuff. Other bands we are impressed of are Deathspell Omega, Portal, Antediluvian and Autokrator. But as mentioned before there are too many to count.

11.Does Occultism play any role in your music?

No.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Thanks for the interview . Drink Beer and listen to the new Deathspell Omega record. And always keep in mind that there is no hope, only darkness and death!

Monday, January 9, 2017

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit bout the band?Hello mate and thank you very much for the interview!! We are a death metal band from GREECE formed 3 years ago by our guitarist George Natsoulis when he left his previous band Resurgency. We had some changes in our line up until the previous year but now we are in a complete and solid line up and ready to desecrate humanity with some deadly music.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the demo?The sound of the demo is raw, aggressive and concrete as it should be in every death metal DEMO. We only wanted the right balance between the sounds of the instruments in the recording and it turned out to be solid and we were satisfied.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music? Great question !! I am always happy and glad to talk about our lyrical themes!! Well, we like blood, tons of blood, stories with bloodshed for example, an ancient tribe of cannibals were performing some rituals where they were kidnapping people and have them smothered on the altar and slowly peeling their skin off because with this way they summoned their gods, this story is in our track Ritual Excarnation. Of course we love stories of serial killers like our track Murder Castle which is talking about the insane murderer Herman Mudgett. Also we 1. love to transmit darkness and claustrophobic horror through our lyrics like the track Entangled In The Webs Of Fear and of course we love to talk about true but disgusting life stories like a mother who were suffering from paranoia and hallucinations and see saw her child as a monster and stabbed it to death and when she recovered and came in sober state she killed herself, this story is represented in our track Void Of Hallucinating Torment. That’s all about our subjects and lyrical themes.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Vultur'? Vultur is the latin word for Vulture. Vultures are the birds - scavengers who stalking to eat you without mercy. Always better when you are dead because they love to feed from rotten corpses and dead flesh. So for us this is a pure ‘’death metal’’ fact, an ugly and monstrous flying scavenger descending to devour your dead skin !!! VULTUR !!!

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance? I will disappoint you in this question because so far we didn’t have the chance to play live but we will extremely soon!

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future? Yes we are discussing to play in some local gigs and we will inform everyone through our page!

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal? We had great response from everyone who listened the demo and generally we received very good comments in reviews and from death metal maniacs.

8.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that the band members are a part of? Basically all the Vultur members except George Natsoulis and Alex Kalfakis are playing with the death metal band Ectoplasma and Alex Kalfakis is playing with his other black metal band Akrotheism and also George Natsoulis with Giannis Grim are preparing a killer grind/death metal project which you will be informed soon!

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future? For now we are trying to finish the final stage of mixing of our upcoming full album and soon to give some live shows!

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays? Oh fukk !! Difficult question!! As a band our common influences in the music we play are bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Death, Immolation, Demigod, Vader etc… And about nowadays listening I can tell you only my personal soundtracks, hmm let’s see… Blood Incantation, Cruciamentum, Timeghoul, Indesinence, Chthe’ilist, Sulphur Aeon and for sure Triumvir Foul got my attention very much! Great bands who totally have my ears smothered on their albums!

11.What are some of your non musical interests? Basically we are under a spell of some sort of curse to don’t have the luxury of killing time!! We all work a lot and play in other bands too and George Natsoulis is married with two great kids. So, not a lot of time for other interests, only music and work apparently.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts? We would like to thank everyone who keeps supporting death metal when all common humans see us as repulsive monsters!! We will continue to spread death metal like a virus and we really hope to get infected very rapidly!! Hails !!

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?

Well. A lot has been going on with the band recently. We started the promotion of the new album a few months before the actual release by presenting the first single, called "Liquid of Creation" to the public. It has a nice video, that one can see on youTube. Then we gave some concerts, the most important of which were our participation in the Metalhead Meeting festival in Bucharest Romania, which is one of the biggest and most important festivals in the whole Balkan Peninsula and our participation in the Sea of Black festival, that took place in the town of Varna. For me, personally, the most important concert however, was the one in which we played as an opening act for the show of Rotting Christ in Sofia, simply because this was one of my favorite bands and I had wanted for so long to share the stage with them. For me it was a dream came true. Meanwhile we were constantly teasing the public, talking about the new album. In the autumn it was finally released. Soon afterwords we dropped the bomb, that we had kept in our arsenal as a secret weapon. We released the video of the song "Hater". It was a kind of video, that one could rarely see produced by an underground band. If you don't believe my words, just go on youTube and watch it. I'm confident that most of you would agree with me afterwards. The director was a totally unknown Bulgarian graphic designer and video director, which goes by the name of Val Volegna. He's without any doubt the most talented person, that I have ever met. He was responsible not only for those two videos, but for the awesome artwork as well. We certainly wouldn't succeed without his help. Now we're about to start shooting a new video for the song "Graveyard" and he promised us that it would be even better than this one. Moreover some of our songs have been played by radio stations from all over the world and thanks to our friend Alexander from the Grand Sounds Promotion we have given interviews for many metal media, including this one here.

2.In November you had released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

This is our third album, but I have to say, that it surely is the most important of them all. That's why it was called simply Eufobia. It took us almost five years to complete. It was a long and painful process, but it was totally worth it. During the making of our previous releases we had to make a lot of compromises, so therefore the final result was not exactly what we wanted it to be. When we started recording this one however, we decided that that time the album wouldn't be released until we were totally satisfied with the sound. It's true that our music has changed, compared to our previous releases, but I can assure you that we, on the other hand, have remained the same crazy bastards and we've still got the same ideas and beliefs. The only difference is that now we've got more experience and know how to do things better. Our music had been changing before this release, because we had been trying to find our own distinctive voice. That was the main reason, but when we heard the album, when it was finally ready, for the first time we had the feeling that the quest was finally over and that we had found what we had been looking for. For the first time we thought, that we wouldn't change a thing, even if we could.

3.This is the first album to be released in 5 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?

This is a very long period of time, isn't it? There are lots of fine underground bands, popping in and out of existence, making just one or two good albums before they disappear, meanwhile surviving on stage for a period shorter than five years, aren't they? This thought sometimes scares me. I've just explained to you why we didn't release any album during that time, but we didn't just hide in the basement composing the album far away from the outside world. Not at all actually. We were touring a lot across Europe during that period. We went to countries, that we had never visited before, and met a lot of interesting people. The most important tours, that we participated in during that period were "The Signs of Hell Tour" in 2011 with Vader, Gorgoroth and Valkyrja, "Carpe Mortem Tour" in 2012 with Soul Sacrifice and "European Conspiracy Tour" 2014 with Immolation, Broken Hope and Sweetest Devilry. We gave also many single shows and participated in some important festivals like, OST Mountain Fest in Rasnov Romania, Tattoo & Music Fest in Iasi Romania, Rockomotiva Fest in Craiova Romania, Rock Station Festival in Ankara Turkey, Thrashing Mania Festival in Sofia, Massive Wasted Festival in Sofia and so on. Not bad for an underground band. is it?

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?

Well. I have to confess that music has always been more important for us than the lyrics and that we have often underestimated them. Sometimes the exact meaning of our words is left intentionally unclear, so that everyone could imagine something personal, while listening to the song. We sing mostly about evil people, corrupted souls, social injustice, greed, murder, death, suicide and so on. One of our favorite subjects, however, still remains the forbidden pleasures and sexual desires, but who wouldn't fall for that? Our main source of inspiration is the life itself. We've been through a lot, as most people have, but metal music gives us the opportunity to transform the negative energy of the world around us into beautiful music and meaningful lyrics. Sometimes we're inspired by the books that we read or the movies that we watch. There is also a political message in some of our songs. In the video of the song "Hater", for instance, we play the roles of some prisoners. There is also an evil dictator. One can see that we stand at a big city square. We didn't choose the location randomly. This place is located in the center of our hometown Sofia and ironically it's called "The Independence Square". Three years ago, thousands of people were going there every evening to demonstrate against the corrupt government of the former Communists. The people stayed there for a whole year, then finally another government came to power, but of course, until this very day still nothing has changed. No one demonstrates anymore unfortunately, but we wanted people to remember what had happened there, when they watch the video.

5. I know that the bands name means 'fear of good' in Greek, how does this name fit in with the musicalstyle that you play?

The truth is that when we had to give the band a name, we simply made a list of names and then we chose the most suitable one, which happened to be Eufobia. The name sticked perfectly though. I believe that it fits so good because the fear of good makes a person a cautious realist and we're realists. That's why we like it so much. The word Eufobia means nothing but "fear of good" for us, but there are many people, who think that the name of our band actually means "fear of the European Union". That's not true, though. We're not afraid of the Union. Now, in order to explain, I'll have to talk about politics again and I usually talk reluctantly about that, but unfortunately we live in troubled times and that makes this subject extremely important. The nations of Europe have always shared the same values and the continent itself has always been united by its culture. During hard times people need leaders, but what have we got nowadays? I'll tell you what. Some dumb-ass good-for-nothing bureaucrats. This Union of free nations was the dream of visionaries like Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer. The people, who are in charge of the politics nowadays, would have served those true leaders the coffee, if they had been still alive.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

For us each and every show is special, no matter if we play in front of a thousand people or in a small club in front of our closest friends. We try to do our best each and every time, so even on the most important events we play just like as usual. Of course, we enjoy sharing the stage with bigger bands or playing in important well attended festivals, but sometimes we feel even greater joy while playing in front of just a few people, if these people are the right ones and if they support us enjoying every single track of our set list. Every shows gives our band the opportunity to win new supporters. We're one of the very few Bulgarian bands, that tour regularly across Europe. We have shared the stage with countless underground or well known bands such as Arch Enemy, Dark Tranquility, Rotting Christ,Vader, Immolation, Onslaught, Malevolent Creation, Pyogenesis, Gorgoroth, Sinister, Broken Hope, Christ Agony, E-force, Agathocles, Negura Bunget, Suicidal Angels and we have learned a lot from each and every one of these bands. We've got friends from all over Europe, who come to our shows and listen to our music and we're grateful to have their support. When we found the band, we didn't even imagine that one day we would have given all these amazing concerts. Back then we surely had a lot of enthusiasm, but things like going on tour abroad or being an opening band for a great metal artist were absolutely unthinkable.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

We adore going on tour with the band, so of course we're looking forward to hit the road once again. We have already booked our next tour. In April we're going on tour with the polish metal machines of Christ Agony in Bulgaria and Romania. We really like this band. We played once together, so we know the band members personally and they seem to be nice people. I'm sure that we'll have a lot of fun together. Although we've been touring regularly across Europe, we play mostly in these two countries, because that's where most of the people who know and like Eufobia live. Bulgaria is our motherland, so normally there are many people who are interested in our band here. On the other hand we've played many times in Romania, so we've already got a lot of friends there as well and we're looking forward to seeing them again.

8.The new album was released on 'Wizard', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

We wouldn't succeed without the support of our label. That's for sure. Wizard is the biggest Bulgarian distributor of rock and metal music. The company's been using its excellent relations with some of the biggest metal labels or distributor in the world in order to get our albums distributed worldwide. We're extremely grateful to Peter, the owner of the label for standing by our side in this struggle to get noticed abroad. It's not easy for an underground metal band to achieve that. Believe me. I can assure you that Peter doesn't do it for the money. He didn't make a fortune selling our albums. He simply believes in our band. Our partnership started with the very first release and he practically released or distributed all of our albums. Our first album was released by the Romanian label Axa Valaha, but it was officially distributed by Wizard in Bulgaria. That was the beginning of a beautiful and long lasting friendship. The label has stood by our side to this very day and was involved in the release of all of our albums. We're looking forward to inking a deal with our friend Peter for the next album of Eufobia as well.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your newer music by fans of death metal?

Most of the feedback from both the public and the media has been quite positive so far. I really like the music, that we play, so I'm surely glad that I'm not the only one who does. On the other hand I don't think that Eufobia has ever been a typical Death Metal band. Especially now. The music, that we're currently playing, is much closer to Thrash Metal, or even to Rock’n’Roll, but I'd rather not try to describe it. One should hear it with one's own ears. Once a great guitar player gave me the advice, never to twist a riff in order to make it fit into any particular style, and I keep on following this advice to this very day. It's sometimes hard to make such stand. Much easier would have been for us to stick to the genre boundaries of an already established style. But that's why we play in an underground band, so we can play, whatever we like and for me, personally, this freedom is extremely important. We would certainly never make a song, that we dislike just to please the audience. We're happy that nowadays there are enough people out there, who appreciate us for what we are. I don't think that we lost any Death Metal fans, when we changed our stile though, but I have noticed that we have won some progressive and thrash metal fans, which is great. After all, we're all just metal heads, aren't we?

10.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?

Some of these bands are doing just fine, like the Death Metal band Coprostasis or the Rock and Roll project Dreg Satrz, for instance. Both these bands, make new songs, give concerts regularly and are about to release some new stuff. Some others projects like the old school Death Metal band Prokaza are unfortunately rather inactive nowadays. The Grind Core band Mizerere stands somewhere in between, as far as I know. I don't think, that I would exaggerate if I told you, that in Eufobia were playing some of the best Bulgarian underground musicians and I'm proud to play in the same band. I personally play only in Eufobia, but I'm glad that the other musicians have got other bands as well, because it helps them bring new musical ideas in the music of our band. It's quite normal for the underground musicians from all over the world to play in more than one band. After all the underground is one big family, isn't it?

11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

Our main goal has always been to create good music and share it with the underground community. We feel more inspired than ever. We're constantly creating new songs. We've got enough rough material for a brand new album and we'd like to go back to the studio as soon as possible. Some of the songs are already ready, by the way, and soon we'll present them to the public. We don't want to rush it however, so we won't start recording them until we're absolutely sure that every little note sounds just right. We're very pleased with the current style of the band, so our intention is to explore the same musical concept, but making the music sound even better, of course. We cannot wait to start recording, but there are some things that have to be done before that. Now we've got a brand new album to promote, so its promotion is going to be our main priority for some time.

12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

I believe that our strength and creativity is due to the fact that everyone of us listens to diverse kinds of rock and metal music. Thus we've got diverse musical influences and that makes our own music sound more interesting and unusual. We don't want to copy any particular band. We'd rather be ourselves instead. Creativity should have no boundaries. I personally listen to rock, grunge, punk, black metal, death metal, hard core, grind core and basically to everything that has a distorted guitar in it. I could easily name hundreds of bands that I admire, like Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, Motorhead, Gojira, Dark Tranquility, Rotting Christ, Vader, Immolation. Behemoth, Korn. System of a Down or Tool, for instance, but if I had to name just one band it would be Death. I believe that Chuck Shuldiner was one of the most talented musicians that had ever lived. For me personally he's a true role model. May he rest in peace and long live his legacy.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?

Everyone of us has got some other interest, besides music, of course. I'm interested in medicine, world history astrophysics and foreign languages for instance. I also like reading. There's always a book on my night shelf. I'm constantly reading something. My favorite book is Nikos Kazantzakis' "The last temptation of Christ". I like watching movies too. My favorite one is "the Crow" with Brandon Lee. This movie tells all about the rock music, by the way. If I had just two hours to explain to somebody what the rock music was all about, I would show this movie to that person. Music has always been the most important activity for me though.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

I'd like to thank you for giving us the chance our voice to be heard. We'd be quite happy if your readers decided to check out our band online on our official website www.eufobia.com, where they could listen to our music and watch our videos.We'd be even happier if they found some time to write to us and share some thoughts about our music thereafter. Looking forward to seeing all of them and you in front of the stage on one of our upcoming concerts. Cheers and best wishes!